Reading is something adults sometimes take for granted. An individual can go through day-to-day life, not even considering how lucky they are to have the skill of being able to construct meaning from print and other symbols they come across. They also probably do not notice the fact that they bring their knowledge of the outside world and personal experiences to their understanding of the text.
However, young children are not born with this skill. They must learn it through much practice, and will often use cues to help them make sense of what they are seeing (Hill, 2006). They may use semantic cues which are meanings that come from the outside world (from their prior experiences), syntactic cues (involving word order), or grapho-phonic cues, which are concerned with the way a word appears. Letters are associated with phonemes, and children can see word differences as well as observing that similar sounding words (for example, bear/bare) have different meanings (Hill, 2006). In this way, children are engaging themselves in active problem solving. Along the way, they may sample a text to make predictions, self-correct when errors are made, and confirm if any predictions made were correct.
Stages of reading development
Reading is a lifelong process, beginning at birth and continuing into adulthood. Its development begins at birth, when babies are read stories, handle books and view corresponding images. Later on, children progress through the following stages (Hill, 2006): Emergent phase
Here, children begin to read to gain meaning. They attend to the direction of the text, known words, word-to-word matching and attempt to locate new words. They also notice features of words and letters in the print they observe. Difficulty levels of texts they read are based on:
concept complexity
text length
amount of words per page
size and placement of text
amount of support provided in illustrations pertaining to text
difficulty of vocabulary and syntax
This level is separated into five stages, gradually increasing in difficulty.
Early stage
This stage gradually builds on the skills learnt in the emergent phase. Sentences are slightly more complex, and repetition continues. Differences do exist, however:
more fiction genres are used, including folk tales, raps and rhymes
factual texts such as instructions and reports are used
sentences may contain more than one idea
the incidences of figurative language increase
high-frequency words are repeated
text is short when conceptual load is more complex
There are many more differences however, but the general idea is that the text difficulty gradually increases. Transitional reading
In this stage, fluency levels increase and problem-solving skills become more apparent. Again, texts become more complex, and the more a child is exposed to this level of reading, the easier they should find it to use multiple cues to develop their own meanings.
Extending phase
Multiple sources become useful in this stage when integrating information. A child also is encouraged to build fluency further. Silent reading becomes more common, although a child may read aloud if problems are encountered. Texts are often episodic, with several ideas in the plot. Illustrations may contain less support, meaning that the child has to rely on the words more to develop meaning. A wider variety of text types is used, and with this comes a number of new words and concepts, to extend vocabulary and general knowledge.
So how can I teach reading?
Teachers can use a variety of strategies to teach reading. These include the following: Modelled reading
Students are required to listen as the teacher reads a text aloud, modelling how to read. A text at a level higher than they can read is used, to stimulate reading development. Texts may be factual or fictional, using a range of text types. They must demonstrate how a writer develops character, setting and plot in fiction, or how information is presented factually. Students observe correct syntax, new vocabulary and meanings used, and soon begin to imitate this in their own reading.
Shared reading
As a class an enlarged book is read, although this is performed by the teacher. Children can join in when they reach a known part, for example the refrain "he huffed and puffed and blew the house down," in The Three Little Pigs. Again, texts may be above a child's reading level, due to the support of the whole group. In using a big book, students are able to view images and text, and follow along when the words are indicated using a pointer. It is important to keep interruptions to a minimum, and only stop when meaning is lost. Guided reading
The class is split into groups of 4-6 children, and each group a copy of the same text. Each child has their own copy of the text, at a level similar to their own. That said, they should have some challenging sections, which the teacher should be prepared to assist children with. For example, new words should always be introduced in context: for the word skeleton, "Birds have a skeleton. Skeletons are made of bones". A teacher should also prompt accordingly, encouraging students to problem-solve for themselves. Independent reading This aims to build both fluency and motivation towards reading, using texts at their level. The child is required to read on their own for a period of time. It is beneficial because each child can work at their own pace, they can spread out in the room, teachers can help when needed (unless the child self-corrects), however, the teacher never tells the answer, but encourages the child to problem solve to work out the meaning.
Through each stage, children may use a variety of strategies to decipher meaning from texts. They use problem-solving practices such as looking at the structure, as well as investigating graphophonic (letter and sound relationships) and visual (shape of letters) curs. Below is a child reading independently, from Mem Fox's Where is the Green Sheep? The child is reading a book that she knows well, although she does use the illustrations to support her reading.
Here is the same child again, reading Eric Carle's The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Here, a great deal of fluency is achieved, although some errors are made. However, the child self-corrects, which is a very good sign of her reading competence.
Reading assessment—Running records
These help teachers gauge where a child is 'at' in their reading development. The teacher marks off correct words read, on a transcript of the text. Notes are made when a child self-corrects or makes an error ("miscue"). The book must be unfamiliar to the child, yet at their reading level. Sometimes two texts may be used; one familiar to the child and one unfamiliar, and they are usually approximately 100 words long (Green & Campbell, 2003).
To analyse the record, the teacher counts the number of running words (not including the title, subtitles etc.), and counts miscues, omissions, insertions, words supplied by the teacher and no response as one error. If a page is skipped, this counts as a single error also, and the word count from this page is subtracted from the total word count. Proper nouns read inaccurately are counted once. Self-corrections, repetitions and different pronunciations (due to differing dialects) are not counted as errors. A percentage accuracy is computed by subtracting the number of errors from the total number of words, and then dividing by the total number of running words. The percentage accuracy is considered, to determine whether the child is reading at an appropriate level. Teachers can use these as a record over time to monitor progress, and also look at specific errors, to see what needs improvement.
An example of a running record is shown here: runrec.gif. Here, SC refers to those errors on which a child self-corrects, written with the miscue pronounced by the child. Other errors include substitution of other words, omission of words, repetition, and so on. The accuracy rate of 92% demonstrates that this text was probably a bit too hard for the child, meaning that for every 100 words read, about 8 words will be incorrect. An accuracy of 94% is best for this activity (the benchmark percentage). Likewise, the error rate of 1:12 means that for every 12 words, one error will be made. Also, for every four words, one self-correction will occur, seen through the self-correction rate.
High-frequency words
These are words which appear most commonly in written and spoken language. It is important a child knows these, and as a result, they appear in children's first reading books. They are also known as "sight words" as they are recognised visually. Once a child knows 50-100 of these words, their reading capabilities increase dramatically.
To teach these words, students can play flash card games in small groups, among other things. However, some will require repeated exposure, and others must be presented in context: for instance, the word to does not have any meaning to the child until it is placed in a sentence: "I am going to the beach".
To assess their ability, teachers can ask students to read a list of these words, marking their accuracy. A list is given in the image opposite.
Language is the dress of thought. ~Samuel Johnson
So, what does it mean to be able to read?
Reading is something adults sometimes take for granted. An individual can go through day-to-day life, not even considering how lucky they are to have the skill of being able to construct meaning from print and other symbols they come across. They also probably do not notice the fact that they bring their knowledge of the outside world and personal experiences to their understanding of the text.
However, young children are not born with this skill. They must learn it through much practice, and will often use cues to help them make sense of what they are seeing (Hill, 2006). They may use semantic cues which are meanings that come from the outside world (from their prior experiences), syntactic cues (involving word order), or grapho-phonic cues, which are concerned with the way a word appears. Letters are associated with phonemes, and children can see word differences as well as observing that similar sounding words (for example, bear/bare) have different meanings (Hill, 2006). In this way, children are engaging themselves in active problem solving. Along the way, they may sample a text to make predictions, self-correct when errors are made, and confirm if any predictions made were correct.
Stages of reading development
Reading is a lifelong process, beginning at birth and continuing into adulthood. Its development begins at birth, when babies are read stories, handle books and view corresponding images. Later on, children progress through the following stages (Hill, 2006):
Emergent phase
Here, children begin to read to gain meaning. They attend to the direction of the text, known words, word-to-word matching and attempt to locate new words. They also notice features of words and letters in the print they observe. Difficulty levels of texts they read are based on:
- concept complexity
- text length
- amount of words per page
- size and placement of text
- amount of support provided in illustrations pertaining to text
- difficulty of vocabulary and syntax
This level is separated into five stages, gradually increasing in difficulty.Early stage
This stage gradually builds on the skills learnt in the emergent phase. Sentences are slightly more complex, and repetition continues. Differences do exist, however:
- more fiction genres are used, including folk tales, raps and rhymes
- factual texts such as instructions and reports are used
- sentences may contain more than one idea
- the incidences of figurative language increase
- high-frequency words are repeated
- text is short when conceptual load is more complex
There are many more differences however, but the general idea is that the text difficulty gradually increases.Transitional reading
In this stage, fluency levels increase and problem-solving skills become more apparent. Again, texts become more complex, and the more a child is exposed to this level of reading, the easier they should find it to use multiple cues to develop their own meanings.
Extending phase
Multiple sources become useful in this stage when integrating information. A child also is encouraged to build fluency further. Silent reading becomes more common, although a child may read aloud if problems are encountered. Texts are often episodic, with several ideas in the plot. Illustrations may contain less support, meaning that the child has to rely on the words more to develop meaning. A wider variety of text types is used, and with this comes a number of new words and concepts, to extend vocabulary and general knowledge.
So how can I teach reading?
Teachers can use a variety of strategies to teach reading. These include the following:
Modelled reading
Students are required to listen as the teacher reads a text aloud, modelling how to read. A text at a level higher than they can read is used, to stimulate reading development. Texts may be factual or fictional, using a range of text types. They must demonstrate how a writer develops character, setting and plot in fiction, or how information is presented factually. Students observe correct syntax, new vocabulary and meanings used, and soon begin to imitate this in their own reading.
Shared reading
As a class an enlarged book is read, although this is performed by the teacher. Children can join in when they reach a known part, for example the refrain "he huffed and puffed and blew the house down," in The Three Little Pigs. Again, texts may be above a child's reading level, due to the support of the whole group. In using a big book, students are able to view images and text, and follow along when the words are indicated using a pointer. It is important to keep interruptions to a minimum, and only stop when meaning is lost.
Guided reading
The class is split into groups of 4-6 children, and each group a copy of the same text. Each child has their own copy of the text, at a level similar to their own. That said, they should have some challenging sections, which the teacher should be prepared to assist children with. For example, new words should always be introduced in context: for the word skeleton, "Birds have a skeleton. Skeletons are made of bones". A teacher should also prompt accordingly, encouraging students to problem-solve for themselves.
Independent reading
This aims to build both fluency and motivation towards reading, using texts at their level. The child is required to read on their own for a period of time. It is beneficial because each child can work at their own pace, they can spread out in the room, teachers can help when needed (unless the child self-corrects), however, the teacher never tells the answer, but encourages the child to problem solve to work out the meaning.
Through each stage, children may use a variety of strategies to decipher meaning from texts. They use problem-solving practices such as looking at the structure, as well as investigating graphophonic (letter and sound relationships) and visual (shape of letters) curs.
Below is a child reading independently, from Mem Fox's Where is the Green Sheep? The child is reading a book that she knows well, although she does use the illustrations to support her reading.
Here is the same child again, reading Eric Carle's The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Here, a great deal of fluency is achieved, although some errors are made. However, the child self-corrects, which is a very good sign of her reading competence.
Reading assessment—Running records
These help teachers gauge where a child is 'at' in their reading development. The teacher marks off correct words read, on a transcript of the text. Notes are made when a child self-corrects or makes an error ("miscue"). The book must be unfamiliar to the child, yet at their reading level. Sometimes two texts may be used; one familiar to the child and one unfamiliar, and they are usually approximately 100 words long (Green & Campbell, 2003).
To analyse the record, the teacher counts the number of running words (not including the title, subtitles etc.), and counts miscues, omissions, insertions, words supplied by the teacher and no response as one error. If a page is skipped, this counts as a single error also, and the word count from this page is subtracted from the total word count. Proper nouns read inaccurately are counted once. Self-corrections, repetitions and different pronunciations (due to differing dialects) are not counted as errors. A percentage accuracy is computed by subtracting the number of errors from the total number of words, and then dividing by the total number of running words. The percentage accuracy is considered, to determine whether the child is reading at an appropriate level. Teachers can use these as a record over time to monitor progress, and also look at specific errors, to see what needs improvement.
An example of a running record is shown here: runrec.gif. Here, SC refers to those errors on which a child self-corrects, written with the miscue pronounced by the child. Other errors include substitution of other words, omission of words, repetition, and so on. The accuracy rate of 92% demonstrates that this text was probably a bit too hard for the child, meaning that for every 100 words read, about 8 words will be incorrect. An accuracy of 94% is best for this activity (the benchmark percentage). Likewise, the error rate of 1:12 means that for every 12 words, one error will be made. Also, for every four words, one self-correction will occur, seen through the self-correction rate.
High-frequency words
These are words which appear most commonly in written and spoken language. It is important a child knows these, and as a result, they appear in children's first reading books. They are also known as "sight words" as they are recognised visually. Once a child knows 50-100 of these words, their reading capabilities increase dramatically.
To teach these words, students can play flash card games in small groups, among other things. However, some will require repeated exposure, and others must be presented in context: for instance, the word to does not have any meaning to the child until it is placed in a sentence: "I am going to the beach".
To assess their ability, teachers can ask students to read a list of these words, marking their accuracy. A list is given in the image opposite.